§ Mr. Tom ClarkeTo ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what was the net financial transfer of resources to the 17 most indebted countries for the last year for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. WaldegraveAccording to World Bank statistics, in 1987 (the latest date for which figures are available), there was a net financial transfer from the 17 highly indebted countries of $21.8 billion.
This is a misleading figure. The bank has measured the difference between repayments of loans (principal and interest) and new lending. They take no account of other flows such as grant aid. Before interest payments, there was a positive net resource transfer of $6.2 billion to the highly indebted countries in 1987.